In several types of sports, such as golf, hockey, baseball, softball, tee ball, and cricket, an individual may use a club with a ball-striking face to strike an object such as a ball. In use, the ball-striking face impacts the ball, thereby transferring energy from the club head to the ball. The performance of a club may be determined for example by the ball speed after the impact for a given incident ball speed. Several factors may affect the performance of a club, such as the weight distribution of the club material, the thickness of the ball-striking face, or both.
For each sport, a variety of clubs may be used, and each club may be made from a variety of materials. In particular, golf clubs may include a driver-type golf club, a fairway wood-type golf club, a hybrid-type golf club, an iron-type golf club, a wedge-type golf club, and a putter-type golf club. In referring to golf clubs, the terms “wood-type” and “iron-type” are based on tradition, indicating the type of material originally used to make the respective golf club. Modern golf clubs, however, may be manufactured from a variety of materials such as steel, titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, or composite materials.
For enhancing the performance of a golf club (e.g., a driver-type golf club), a thin ball-striking face on a club head may be desirable. A ball-striking face with a reduced thickness may bend more, which may increase the ball speed after impact. A material with a high yield strength and low modulus compared to other materials may reduce a thickness of the ball-striking face so that discretionary weight may be redistributed to other portions of a club head.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding elements among the various views of the drawings. The headings used in the figures should not be interpreted to limit the scope of the claims.